The present invention relates to recording systems and methods suited for multi-track-recording sounds of a plurality of performance parts in a performance of a brass band, group singing, etc.
There have heretofore been known recording systems suited, for example, for readily recording a music performance executed by a plurality of persons, such as a performance of a brass band or group singing, one example of which is the recording system disclosed in Non-patent Literature 1 identified below. This recording system includes: a tablet terminal having an application program for the recording system stored therein; an audio interface device connected to the tablet terminal; and a microphone connected to the audio interface device, and in response to a user merely operating buttons displayed on a display of the tablet terminal, the recording system can readily record music performance sounds and reproduce the recorded sound data. Further, the recorded sound data can be uploaded to a cloud server through a one-touch operation, and thus, the uploaded sound source can be test-listened to in a streaming fashion via a desired terminal device, such as a personal computer or smartphone having a test-listening application program stored therein.
Because the aforementioned recording system is compact, it is useful, for example, in practicing and teaching of a group music performance that is to be executed by a brass band, singing group or the like, because sound recording environment can be readily built in any places, such as a music practicing room and gymnastic hall of a school and a community hall and because a recording uploaded to the cloud server can be shared among a plurality of persons. However, with the aforementioned recording system, it is not possible to record sounds of an entire group music performance, such as a performance of a brass band, singing group or the like, into separate tracks corresponding to individual human players or performance parts, i.e., into a separate track for each human player or performance part.
With the conventionally known technique, dedicated equipment, such as a multiplicity of microphones and a multi-track recorder, has to be provided in order to record a performance of a brass band, group singing or the like using a separate track for each human player or performance part, and thus, much time and labor is required for wiring the microphones and making settings for the recorder.
Patent Literature 1 further discloses a recording system where a plurality of digital recorders are interconnected in a wired or wireless manner, which particularly discloses that once any one of the plurality of recorders is caused to start recording, all of the other recorders start recording simultaneously. In this recording system, however, no consideration is made as to how to manage sound data recorded separately on the individual recorders. Thus, in a case where the recording system is applied, for example, to recording of a performance of a brass band, the recording system can record player-specific or performance-part-specific performance sounds separately onto the individual recorders, but it is not easy to obtain, from the recorders, multi-track sound sources having performance sounds of the entire brass band. Namely, it takes much time and labor to integrate the sound data recorded on the individual recorders and thereby obtain performance sounds indicative of performance sounds of the entire brass band.
Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses a camera system where a camera and external equipment, such as a sound data recording device, are communicatively connected with each other, which particularly discloses that an image recording by the camera and a sound recording by the sound data recording device are associated with each other on the basis of time information of the two devices.    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2000-276195    Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2000-347322    Non-patent Literature 1: “What is sokureko Air?”, [online], Yamaha corporation, 2014, [searched on October 21, Heisei 27], Internet <URL:http://www.sokureko24.jp/air/>